Starbucks Coffee

Starbucks Coffee

Replacing halogen lighting with new LED technology saves energy for Starbucks.

Replacing 1,414 halogens with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting will save Starbucks an estimated 370,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) or $25,000 every year —- and Seattle City Light helped pay for the project.

Starbucks Support Center, the coffee company’s global headquarters, located in the Gold LEED-EB-certified Starbucks Center in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood, is home to approximately 3,000 Starbucks employees. Until recently, it was also home to hundreds of inefficient halogen track lights.

Starbucks wanted a solution where the light and color rendering would be comparable to incandescent lighting. Replacing halogens with the latest in LED technologies both improved the light quality, and reduced the company’s utility bills. And a cash rebate from Seattle City Light covered approximately 70% of the entire lighting upgrade project.

“It’s a win-win. We will save more than $25,000 every year in energy costs, and the project helped us reduce our environmental footprint.”
Jeff Martens, Starbucks Coffee Company, Manager Facilities Operations SSC

Testing the newest LED products

Track lighting illuminates many areas throughout Starbucks’ workspace. The Starbucks team wanted to retain the feel of the current environment, so they conducted a pilot study, replacing halogens with LEDs in some key employee meeting areas. Jeff Martens, Starbucks Coffee Company Facilities Manager, says “We looked at a range of the newest LED lights and were very pleased with the products and quality selected.”

Sharing the planet responsibly

The upgrade led to significant savings and is also consistent with the Starbucks Shared Planet™ commitment to environmental stewardship. “It’s a win-win. We will save more than $25,000 every year in energy costs, and the project helped us reduce our environmental footprint,” says Martens.

Every year Starbucks Support Center will save more than $25,000 in energy costs

Project

Replaced 1,414 halogens with LED lights

Estimated annual energy savings

370,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh)

Estimated annual cost savings at 7¢ per kWh

$25,900

LED Lighting

LED or Light Emitting Diodes are now considered to be a mainstream lighting technology. They are rapidly replacing incandescent, halogen, and many types of fluorescent lighting. Though LED technology has been around for 40 years, recent improvements in; brightness, life, and color quality along with a sharp decline in pricing have made LEDs the right choice for many retro t applications. Most LEDs have a lamp life of 50,000 hours or more so you would need to replace your halogen lamps 20 times to equal the same lamp life of an LED. Plus LED lamps use 7 to 8 times less energy than the equivalent halogen lamp.

Why we pay rebates for energy conservation

Seattle City Light offers rebates to help customers save energy because it is the most cost-effective way to meet our future electricity needs. When customers reduce their electricity use, it helps us conserve our hydro resource and avoid the expense of building new power plants or buying electricity on the open market.

Our mission

Seattle City Light is a publicly owned utility dedicated to exceeding our customers’ expectations in producing and delivering environmentally responsible, safe, low-cost and reliable power. Over 90% of our electricity is produced by clean, renewable hydro power and wind generation. Seattle City Light is committed to delivering the best customer service experience of any utility in the nation.

Building on a legacy of clean hydro power, Seattle City Light partners with customers to secure a green energy future. We are leaders in providing innovative ways to conserve electricity and invest in renewable resources.